โ80% of Americans do not know that women do not have equal rights under the Constitution.โ
But that wasnโt as shocking of a statistic at the next one will read: โ95% of Americans think the US Constitution should guarantee equal rights to women and men.โ
Now, the second stat was used as a point in favor of passing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), stating that if 95% Americans think there should be equal rights for men and women, then that would be a large deciding factor in gaining support to pass the bill and have total equality.
However, I read it as only 95% of Americans think women and men should have the same rights. Nonetheless, the point is that women should have equal rights as men, and the fact that itโs 2K16 and women still donโt is dumbfounding. We live in a country that prides itself on being for the common people, understanding of everyoneโs troubles and backgrounds, and yet we regard 51% of the population as lessers in society, their only legal right is voting.
Taking that into consideration, the people behind the Fund for Womenโs Equality/ERA Coalition, a coalition made to gain support for the amendment and help women in legal situations decided to host A Night of Comedy with Jane Fonda on February 7 at Carolineโs on Broadway. Appearing on Sunday included the coalitionโs board, including Gloria Steinem and Jessica Neuwirth, as well as other prominent activists and comedians, like Rosie OโDonnell, Judah Friedlander, Sasheer Zamata, Gina Brillon, Wyatt Cenac, Michelle Buteau, and Sarah Jones.
Why host a comedy night for a serious political topic? Steinem, who was recently in news for criticizing female Bernie Sandersโ supporters, stated that โlaughter is the only free emotionโ and that in some cultures, โit is thought to be a path into the unknown. So there is a reason why we are laughing our way to freedom.โ
Of course these women have had their run-in with politics and politicians in the recent weeks, with Steinemโs comment as well as OโDonnellโs criticism with Donald Trump in 2015. While OโDonnell kept quiet and didnโt mention Trump in her stand-up act โ instead opting for a look into her family life and her recent heart attackโthat didnโt stop Steinem from opening with him.
โItโs hard for any off us to be funny when Donald Trump is in the lead. And I hope there will soon be a group of rich people to explain that he is disgracing rich people. Heโs not really a successful businessman, he is a successful con artist. And somebody had figured out that had he just taken the $200 million or whatever he inherited from his father and invested it, he would now have more money than after going bankrupt three times and sticking everybody with his debt. This is not a businessman, can you surpass that for surrealism and humor?โ
After being introduced, Fonda talked about her past and her role in activism and feminism. โI want to talk about how I came to feminism: it took quite a while to understand feminism. To understand that it didnโt mean you donโt like men, it means that women should be equal and that you were willing to stand up for that. And so I began to identify as a feminismโthat would be gloriously reinforced in me whenever I heard Gloria speak.โ
Although letting it slip that a 9 to 5 sequel was attempted in the past, and her favorite part was when Dolly Parton started tapping her fingers while singing, Fonda closely sticked to the topic at hand. She did mention that she thought Trump was playing on โpeopleโs anxietiesโ with his โracistโ and โdangerousโ views. And in adding to the hate, she said โeven if he doesnโt make it, which I donโt think he will, all young Muslims: it will drive them closer to terrorists.โ
At the end of the night, however, it wasnโt who was making the worst political remarks or who would become president, it was about and their rightsโor lack thereof. โAnd it is a seriously long fight but I think in some countries that have equality, they donโt have the right to practice those freedoms because they havenโt had a fight. And after we win weโre going to have muscle,โ ended Steinem.
Read our interviews below and be sure to check out the ERA website for more information.
Gloria Steinem:
Can you elaborate on your comment with Bill Maher on female Bernie supporters?
Itโs on Facebook and I learned not to comment in the world of Twitter, so itโs on Facebook.
What do you say about the young voters who are voting for Bernie instead of Hillary?
I think that Bernie is saying the message of occupy. So he is stating the problem very clearly, which is a good thing, and Hillary is stating the solution very clearly, which is a good thing. And hopefully, Iโm sure in the future, they will end up together.
Do you believe Hillary would get the youth vote besides that demographicโs inclination towards Bernie?
Well she has the gender gap and the race gap as it is. So in 2008 I didnโt think she could win but now I think she can. But itโs going to be hell.
What do you think is going on with the Republicans?
Iโm sorry to say that theyโre not Republicans. Those of us who remember the real Republican Party, which supported the Equal Rights Amendment before the Democrats and others were pro-choice. These are extremists who have taken over the Republican Party, and itโs very dangerous to have one of our two great parties in the hands of extremists.
New York Representative Carolyn Maloney:
You canโt dismiss that Bernie is very popular with youth voters.
I think more people are gaining votership. I think she will get the nominee.
Have you been campaigning for her?
Yes I have, Iโve been to New Hampshire, Iโve been to Iowa, Iโm going to South Carolina and Virginia.
Those are the places that havenโt ratified the ERA. What can we do to wake them up?
Well itโs going to take a lot of grassroots effort and weโre going to keep working on it and thatโs what weโre doing.
But thatโs been going on for years.
Well itโs time to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. This is a wonderful gathering of people and I hope it brings more momentum: we have 180 cosponsors in the house and weโre working hard to make it happen. And many of the things that people said that we shouldnโt have fail. We passed it in โ72 and it was ratified by 35 states and we need 38. Well what they said was โNo women in the military.โ And the women are in the military. They said โCo-ed bathrooms.โ Well have you been on a plane recently? Theyโre all co-ed bathrooms. They were concerned about gay rights; well the Supreme Court decision certainly helped straight out some gay rights questions. So many of the obstacles are no longer there, but the statistics are there, the inequality is still there. And if you look at the gender gap, it has been consistent for roughly thirty years. And what happens is the gender gap, it compounds into retirement, into your savings account, into your earnings. And itโs one of the reasons why women are the largest proportion living in poverty, in their old age.
Jane Fonda:
As someone whose received Oscar nominations, what do you think about its diversity?
Well I think itโs very clear that itโs part of the dialogue. We have to be talking about it. The Academy is taking it seriously and I think thereโs going to be changes.
What do you think about Bernie?
I think heโs great. I think heโs raising political issues. I think heโs very good at pointing out the problems and Hillary can solve it.
Judah Friedlander:
You worked with Tina Fey on 30 Rock so how was that like?
I think itโs pretty much what you would think it would be like. It was pretty awesome, yeah it was pretty awesome.
Taking that into consideration, what do you think about women writers and women comedians in the first place?
Itโs great and thereโs been more and more recently and thatโs good. I donโt think the reason thereโs more women in comedy is necessarily because show business is such an activist society. I think itโs because you have a few women like Tina Fey who have been very successful. And Hollywood, not always so creative from the business side of things, they just like to copy whatโs successful. But I hope that things keep getting more that way and more diverse. Iโm just saying that if youโre a feminist, donโt get relaxed and think feminism is solved, is what Iโm saying. You know itโs not like โWell, we love women now so weโre all for it.โ Itโs bringing money and Hollywood only cares about money.
Would you call yourself a feminist?
Yeah definitely. I mean feminism means youโre for equal rights, so yes, Iโm for equal rights, 100%.
And why are here supporting the ERA?
Well I was asked to do it and I think itโs a great opportunity. One thing about America, and I talk a lot about this in my act, is the hypocrisy of America. Because not too many countries build themselves as the greatest country in the history of the planet, but we do. And Iโm actually working on a new stand up album and movie right now which is called โAmerica is the Greatest Country in the United States.โ And itโs all about the hypocrisy of our history and are we really the best.